David Sumner

Professor David Sumner teaches American literature and environmental studies at Linfield College. He has published and presented in the area of environmental ethics, strategies for environmental advocacy, and the ethics and rhetoric of eco-terrorism. His work explores the legal, political and ethical implications of our use of the term “eco-terrorism” and its effect on our public perceptions and political activities.

Dr. Sumner’s guest editorials have been published in regional newspapers and he has presented at international conferences. He is an engaging speaker who has been featured in guest lectures throughout Oregon as part of the Oregon Humanities’ Conversation Project, speaking about how citizens can use civil conversation and pragmatism to settle political differences.

Sumner received a 2007 Fulbright Fellowship to lecture in Germany, along with grants from the Oregon Council for the Humanities. His most recent paper (co-written with Linfield College Professor Lisa Weidman) about how we frame eco-terrorism, will be published in Interdisciplinary Studies of Literature and the Environment in the fall of 2013.

Sumner is a particularly articulate advocate for environmental protection.